Everyone knows that a certain number of organisms, plants and animals get along together on a certain piece of land or water. Their totality, as well as the relationship and interaction between themselves and with other abiotic factors, is commonly called biocenosis. This word is formed by merging two Latin words “bios” life and “cenosis” common. Any biological community consists of such components of bioceosis as:
It should be noted that phytocenosis is the dominant component that determines zoocenosis and microbiocenosis.
The origin of the concept of “biocenosis”
At the end of the 19th century, the German scientist Karl Möbius studied the habitats of oysters in the North Sea. In the course of his study, he established that these organisms can only exist in specific conditions, which include depth, current speed, salt content and water temperature. In addition, he noted that strictly certain types of marine life live along with oysters. So in 1877, with the release of his book “Oysters and Oyster Farming”, the term and concept of biocenosis appeared in the scientific community.
Classification of biocenoses
Today there are a number of signs according to which the biocenosis is classified. If we are talking about ordering based on size, then it would be:
Also, biocenoses can be classified depending on the habitat. Then the following types will be highlighted:
The simplest systematization of biological communities is their division into natural and artificial biocenoses. The former include primary ones, formed without human influence, as well as secondary ones, which were influenced by natural elements. The second group includes those who have undergone changes due to anthropogenic factors. Let’s take a closer look at their features.
Natural biocenoses
Natural biocenoses are associations of living beings created by nature itself. Such communities are historically established systems that are created, developed and function according to their own special laws. German scientist B. Tishler outlined the following characteristics of such formations:
Artificial biological systems
Artificial biocenoses are formed, maintained and regulated by man. Professor B.G. Johansen introduced into ecology the definition of anthropocenosis, that is, a natural system deliberately created by man. It can be a park, square, aquarium, terrarium, etc.d.
Among man-made biocenoses, agrobiocenoses are distinguished these are biosystems created for food production. They include:
A typical feature of agrocenosis is the fact that it is not able to exist for a long period of time without human intervention.
